“He simply lacks words”– Toto Wolff on why Lewis Hamilton hasn’t opened about Abu Dhabi GP and following controversies

Toto Wolff explains why Lewis Hamilton hasn’t spoken about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the way several F1 icons responded.

The 2021 championship got decided controversially, and many even believe that Lewis Hamilton unfairly got snubbed off the title, as Max Verstappen lifted the championship in Abu Dhabi.

After that night, Hamilton is yet to make a media appearance and hasn’t commented on the issue. He was last seen when he was being crowned as a knight.

Explaining why Hamilton hasn’t commented on the controversial race. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims that the Briton “simply lacks words” to describe his story.

“We are all wavering in emotions and Lewis most of all,” said Wolff, quoted by Motorsport-total.com. “He won the World Championship until the last lap, and then everything is taken away from you from one second [to the next].

“Of course, you lose faith because you can’t understand what has just happened. The silence is there, of course, because he simply lacks words as well.”

Also read: Valtteri Bottas opens up about how battling with Lewis Hamilton has made him mentally stronger

Lewis Hamilton still talked to Wolff on knighthood day

Wolff reveals that Hamilton, along with the rest of the key members at Mercedes kept discussing the appeal. The three-day-long discussion included when Hamilton was supposed to take his knighthood.

“Lewis was in the office with me and everyone else involved, and we were also in constant contact over those days,” said the Austrian. “In the afternoon, we were back in video calls to decide what to do.”

“What I told him before [receiving the knighthood] was that he should take those few hours paying homage to his life’s work so far and his performances.”

“That he should try to take those positive moments with him. I think that’s what he did. You could see that too, how honourable that was for him.”

Also read: Valtteri Bottas opens up about how battling with Lewis Hamilton has made him mentally stronger

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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